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Co-owner of the Murray Hotel delivers letter to ISC Tuesday in Sante Fe

By Susan Dunlap

sdunlap@scsun-news.com on Twitter @SCSunNews

Posted:
01/21/2014 05:01:06 PM MST

SILVER CITY >> Three hundred business owners across the state have signed a letter to Gov. Susana Martinez asking that she support cost-effective, non-diversion alternatives to diverting the Gila River. Protect the Flows, a business coalition, sponsored the letter and sent it to Martinez's staff Jan. 14. Murray Hotel Co-owner Kurt Albershardt hand-delivered the letter to the Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) during its meeting Tuesday in Sante Fe.

"Silver City is the gateway to the Gila Wilderness and one of the selling points to that wilderness is that we have the last undammed river in New Mexico," Albershardt said.

The issue is an important one for Albershardt, so important, in fact, that he drove the five hours necessary to get to Sante Fe just to attend the ISC meeting held there Tuesday. Albershardt, who co-owns the Murray with his wife, said that more than half of their business comes from tourism.

"The Gila Wilderness and the river bring people to Silver City," Albershardt said. "You have to point your car in this direction, you can't just stumble on Silver. The Gila is why we moved here."

A southern California native, Albershardt moved here from Las Vegas, Nev. three years ago.

Molly Muggleston, co-director of Protect the Flows, said $1.2 billion in direct spending comes from river recreation New Mexico.

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"There are more aspects to the river than just providing water for infrastructure," Mugglestone said, "Recreation is tied to it."

Mugglestone and her staff got signatures from business owners from as far away as Santa Fe, Rio Rancho and Albuquerque.

We wanted to show that it's a statewide issue," Mugglestone said. "In the broader sense, this affects all of the state."

According to a news release, Protect the Flows contracted Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies in 2013 to conduct a poll across the state of New Mexico. The poll showed that 85 percent, a clear majority of New Mexicans statewide, favor water conservation measures over diverting more water from New Mexico's rivers.

Some business owners in Deming and Las Cruces agree, even though Deming would be the likely benefactor if the ISC does recommend the Gila River should be diverted. Although the ISC has not yet made clear the outcome of a diversion project, Deming would be the likely place to receive the water through a pipeline if the ISC, a group appointed by Gov. Martinez, recommends river diversion to the Bureau of Reclamation in November. The Bureau of Reclamation will then notify the Secretary of the Interior in December.

Dan Gauss, owner of the Reader's Cove in Deming, signed the letter to Gov. Martinez.

"I just think it's a big waste of money," Gauss said. "It's going to cost two to three times more than what's coming from the government. I don't feel like paying for that."

Gauss said he did not believe that an economic boom would happen in Deming, even if the Gila is diverted to his city.

"I don't see enough water to pipe to Deming with the climate change happening," Gauss said. "There will be no water to pipe probably."

The Reader's Cove is a used bookstore and gallery at 200 South Copper in Deming.

Executive Director of the Las Cruces Green Chamber Carrie Hamblin also signed the letter. Hamblin said she believes that Las Cruces receives tourism dollars from people traveling to visit the Gila River.

"People use Las Cruces as a staying point when they travel to other areas of the state," Hamblin said. "They use the airport in El Paso. It's trickle-down tourism."

But Hamblin pointed out an issue that goes beyond economics. She said she felt it was important to sign the letter because of something else that is just as important, though less tangible, than money.

"You have to look at the bigger picture, how the Gila River completes the picture of beauty that is New Mexico," Hamblin said. "We think there might be some better economic solutions than depleting the river source. We hope that there's a solution."